Syrian rebel chief: Fighters 'will not give up'

A Syrian fuel tanker which was set on fire late Thursday by anti-Syrian regime protesters, lies in ruins in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Gunmen set fire to three fuel tankers with Syrian license plates to prevent them from crossing into Syria, the state-run National News Agency said. Protesters claim diesel exported to Syria is being used by regime tanks. (AP Photo)
— AP

A Syrian fuel tanker which was set on fire late Thursday by anti-Syrian regime protesters, lies in ruins in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Gunmen set fire to three fuel tankers with Syrian license plates to prevent them from crossing into Syria, the state-run National News Agency said. Protesters claim diesel exported to Syria is being used by regime tanks. (AP Photo)
/ AP

In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke rises from buildings due to heavy shelling in Maadamiyeh south of Damascus, Syria, on Thursday, March 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)— AP

In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke rises from buildings due to heavy shelling in Maadamiyeh south of Damascus, Syria, on Thursday, March 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
/ AP

A Syrian woman who was injured when a Syrian bus overturned while headed to Beirut from Syria, waits for treatment with her sons at a hospital in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Officials say at least eight Syrians were killed and 29 were injured when the bus they were traveling in from Syria overturned in the mountains in central Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)— AP

A Syrian woman who was injured when a Syrian bus overturned while headed to Beirut from Syria, waits for treatment with her sons at a hospital in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Officials say at least eight Syrians were killed and 29 were injured when the bus they were traveling in from Syria overturned in the mountains in central Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
/ AP

A Lebanese nurse treats a young Syrian girl who was injured when a Syrian bus overturned while headed to Beirut from Syria, at a hospital in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Officials say at least eight Syrians were killed and 29 were injured when the bus they were traveling in from Syria overturned in the mountains in central Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)— AP

A Lebanese nurse treats a young Syrian girl who was injured when a Syrian bus overturned while headed to Beirut from Syria, at a hospital in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Officials say at least eight Syrians were killed and 29 were injured when the bus they were traveling in from Syria overturned in the mountains in central Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
/ AP

Lebanese gather next to a damaged Syrian fuel tanker which was attacked late Thursday by anti-Syrian regime protesters, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Gunmen set fire to three fuel tankers with Syrian license plates to prevent them from crossing into Syria, the state-run National News Agency said. Protesters claim diesel exported to Syria is being used by regime tanks. (AP Photo)— AP

Lebanese gather next to a damaged Syrian fuel tanker which was attacked late Thursday by anti-Syrian regime protesters, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Gunmen set fire to three fuel tankers with Syrian license plates to prevent them from crossing into Syria, the state-run National News Agency said. Protesters claim diesel exported to Syria is being used by regime tanks. (AP Photo)
/ AP

A worker, left, removes a damaged seat from a destroyed Syrian bus that was headed to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, when an accident occurred in the Kahhaleh region of Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Officials say at least eight Syrians were killed and 29 were injured when the bus they were traveling in from Syria overturned in the mountains in central Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)— AP

A worker, left, removes a damaged seat from a destroyed Syrian bus that was headed to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, when an accident occurred in the Kahhaleh region of Lebanon, Friday March 15, 2013. Officials say at least eight Syrians were killed and 29 were injured when the bus they were traveling in from Syria overturned in the mountains in central Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
/ AP

BEIRUT 
The chief of Syria's main, Western-backed rebel group marked the second anniversary of the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad on Friday by pledging to fight until the "criminal" regime is gone.

Gen. Salim Idris, the head of the Supreme Military Council, called on Syrian soldiers to join the rebels in a "fight for freedom and democracy," and said: "Dear friends, the Free Syrian Army (fighters) will not give up."

In Damascus, authorities beefed up security measures as rebel groups called for stepped-up attacks on government troops and state institutions on the anniversary.

The revolt against Assad's authoritarian rule began in March 2011 with protests in the southern city of Daraa, after troops arrested teenagers who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall. It has since morphed into a civil war that has killed an estimated 70,000 people, according to the U.N.

"We want (a) Syria where every Syrian can live in peace and liberty. This is our dream. This is what we are fighting for," Idris said in a video address obtained by The Associated Press form the military council's media office.

He spoke in an undisclosed location in northern Syria that is under rebel control.

"I know our battle is not so easy. We have to fight against planes, tanks and huge missiles," Idris said. "But our will is still very strong. We will not stop until this criminal regime has gone."

Idris, 55, studied in Germany and taught electronics at a Syrian military college before defecting to the rebel side in July.

In the past year, the rebels have made significant advances on the battlefield, capturing large swathes of land outside of major cities and along the border with Turkey and controlling some areas in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest urban center and its commercial hub. They have also seized border crossings along the frontier with Turkey and Iraq and have overrun major military bases. They captured dams on the Euphrates River and came within a mile of the center of Damascus, the seat of Assad's power.

On Friday, rebels battled regime forces in several smaller army bases and weapons depots around Aleppo, seizing some ammunition in an army depot near a village of Khan Touman, southwest of the city, according to activist groups.

An activist in Aleppo province, who is widely known as Yassin Abu Raed, said rebels led by the Jabhat al-Nusra and other Islamic radical groups also seized control of a checkpoint protecting a military academy.

Abu Raed, who did not give his real name for fear of persecution by the regime, also said rebels seized a missile base in al-Rashideen area in Aleppo province. Another activist group, The Observatory for Human Rights, said fighting for the missile base was ongoing.

In activist videos posted online Friday, rebels are seen walking around a warehouse, opening wooden boxes that contain missiles.

The videos appeared consistent with reporting from the area by The Associated Press.

The rebels have long complained that their side is hampered by the failure of world powers to provide heavier arms to help them battle Assad's better-equipped military and his airpower. The international community is reluctant to send weapons partly because of fears they may fall into the hands of extremists who have been gaining influence among the rebels.